Florida

Bernie Sanders $200-and-under award, receiving the largest share of their congressional campaign funds from people giving modest amounts of any current candidates so far this cycle.Individuals who gave $200 or less flocked to Sanders’ campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, carrying him much farther than most experts predicted. He drew in 59 percent of his purse from such donors, a staggering amount for a serious White House contender and far more than Hillary Clinton’s 19 percent, though she bested Sanders for the party nod.Among congressional candidates, few can approach Sanders. But the House and Senate leaders by this measure were both Sanders supporters. Tim Canova leads House contenders and Congress overall with 76 percent of his contributions from small donors — about 11 times the House average of 6.9 percent this cycle.Canova is running for the seat held by former Democratic National Committee chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.Rep. Alan … [Read more...] about Florida Democrats Leading the Pack With Small Donors

The voter registration deadline in Florida is this Tuesday, October 11. That could be problematic for people who have yet to register, but had to evacuate their homes last week due to Hurricane Matthew. On Sunday, the Florida Democratic Party filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking an extension. On October 6, Governor Rick Scott, named as a defendant in the suit along with Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner, ordered the evacuation and that same day announced that he was not extending the registration deadline.Florida, the complaint says, does not allow online voter registration or election day registration like some states. The only way to register is to deliver a paper application in person or through the mail. However, the state Democratic Party says, “Hurricane Matthew tore through Florida with 130-mile-per-hour winds, destroying roads and bridges,” with more than 1 million people losing power. The lawsuit also mentions that postal service in certain … [Read more...] about Florida Democrats Sue Governor to Extend Voter Registration Deadline Due to Hurricane

A federal judge in Florida has granted an additional extension to the state’s voter registration deadline, giving potential voters another week to sign up to cast ballots in the November 8 election.The Florida Democratic Party filed a lawsuit over the weekend asking the U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker to extended the voter registration deadline because of Hurricane Matthew. Florida Governor Rick Scott had denied the request to extend the deadline, saying he was prohibited from doing so under state law.On Tuesday, Judge Walker initially extended the deadline to October 12.The Associated Press reports Judge Walker has now entered a new order after a hearing on Wednesday morning that further extends the deadline to October 18.A spokesperson for Gov. Scott’s office told the AP they would accept the court’s decision. … [Read more...] about Federal Judge Extends Florida Voter Registration Deadline to Oct. 18

Back in 2000, the state of Florida was in a virtual deadlock between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Florida has the nation’s eye once again, as the battle between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the Sunshine State is too close to call. If it stays like this, the election process could drag on for a while, because Florida state law calls for an automatic machine recount when an election is particularly close.Florida Statute Title IX Section 102.141(7) says: If the unofficial returns reflect that a candidate for any office was defeated or eliminated by one-half of a percent or less of the votes cast for such office … a recount shall be ordered of the votes cast with respect to such office or measure. The Secretary of State is responsible for ordering recounts in federal, state, and multicounty races.”So should Trump and Clinton finish within 0.5% of each other in Florida, there would be an automatic machine recount. It’s still … [Read more...] about Here’s What Happens if Florida is Too Close to Call

Donald Trump and Pam Bondi over a donation that Trump made to Bondi’s campaign. LawNewz.com has learned that Whitfield Larrabee, a Boston trial lawyer, filed the complaints with the US Attorney’s Office in both New York and Florida. He alleges a violation of federal bribery laws after Bondi solicited $25,000 for her campaign from Trump in 2013.During this time, Bondi and her office were reviewing claims that Trump University’s seminars were worthless and that students were duped out of thousands of dollars. Shortly after receiving the Trump donation, Bondi found that these claims had no merit and opted not to take action against him or his company.Larrabee believes these actions are suspicious and decided to file a complaint against both Bondi and Trump for bribery. At first, he filed a complaint with the Florida Board of Ethics on June 7th, 2016. However, a criminal investigation is outside of their jurisdiction and it is up to … [Read more...] about Bribery Complaint Filed Against Donald Trump and Florida AG Pam Bondi Over Trump U Case

Genesis Davila, the woman recently stripped of her crown as Miss Florida USA, fought back by suing the pageant in Miami-Dade County, Florida on counts of breach of contract, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and defamation. According to ClickOrlando.com, Grant Gravitt Jr., the pageant director, said that “We finally had substantial proof to link her and her vendors to her room on an evening which they were not allowed.” The proof apparently was gleaned from Davila’s own social media accounts.By “vendors,” Gravitt is referring to alleged outside hair and makeup artists, who are not allowed during the competition itself, as contestants must use the pageant’s own staff for those needs. He added that “She made a poor life choice,” citing their zero tolerance policy on rule breaking.In the 21-page complaint obtained by LawNewz, Davila rebuts Gravitt’s … [Read more...] about Former Miss Florida USA Alleges Scheme to Strip Her Crown in $15 million Lawsuit

Deniz Martinez of Lake Wales, Florida, the answer to that question appears to be “pretty far.” But she didn’t exactly think through the most clever way to achieve her goal.According to a Facebook post from the Winter Haven Police Department, her boyfriend, Jason Drake was visiting his probation officer on Tuesday and had to take a mandatory drug test. Maybe they feared that he wouldn’t pass the test, because after Drake had been in the building for six hours without producing a sample. Martinez allegedly called in a bomb threat to help empty the building. When the 911 operator tried to ask additional questions, the caller hung up.Martinez’s plan of calling 911 and saying that a man outside of the probation office was going to “blow the building up” failed for one simple reason…she apparently used her own phone. When police called her after the dust cleared, she admitted to making the call. She was charged with … [Read more...] about Cops Say Florida Woman Calls In Bomb Threat To Interrupt Boyfriend’s Drug Test

A new Florida state law allows parents to challenge any school textbook they find biased or objectionable.The law, backed by conservative group Florida Citizen’s Alliance, was inspired by a “deep dive” into schools’ reading list that the group conducted. After analyzing 60 textbooks in school libraries, Alliance founder Keith Flaugh found that they were “full of political indoctrination, religious indoctrination, revisionist history and distorting our founding values and principles, [and] even a significant quantity of pornography”, referring to books such as Clockwork Orange and Angela’s Ashes.His investigation went beyond English literature: “I spent over 20 hours with a book called ‘United States Government,'” he told NPR, documenting over 80 instances of factual errors or bias. Even the book’s subtitle, ‘Our Democracy’, was subject to his scrutiny: “We’re not a … [Read more...] about Parents Can Object to School Textbooks Teaching Evolution, Climate Change Under New Florida Law

The Florida Supreme Court on Friday declared the State’s death penalty law as unconstitutional as it does not require a unanimous jury decision to impose the sentence. Florida law only required 10 out of 12 votes to approve death penalty.In the 5 to 2 ruling, the Judges concluded that “the Sixth Amendment right to a trial by jury mandates that under Florida’s capital sentencing scheme, the jury — not the judge — must be the finder of every fact, and thus every element, necessary for the imposition of the death penalty.”In a dissenting opinion, Justice Charles T. Canady, joined by Justice Ricky Polston, observed that the other Judges “fundamentally” misunderstood the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in January and said they are “unnecessarily disrupting the administration of the death penalty in Florida.”One of the cases before the Court, Hurst v. Florida, had come before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in … [Read more...] about Only Unanimous Jury Decision May Approve Death Penalty: Florida SC [Read Judgment]

The Sixth Amendment protects a defendant’s right to an impartial jury. This right required Florida to base Timothy Hurst’s death sentence on a jury’s verdict, not a judge’s fact-finding, said the Court while holding the scheme unconstitutional.Supreme Court of United States has held the Florida capital sentencing scheme which allows a sentencing judge to find an aggravating circumstance necessary for imposition of the death, independent of a jury’s fact-finding, is unconstitutional. A nine Judge Bench, by 8-1 majority, said that this law violates the Sixth Amendment which protects a defendant’s right to an impartial jury. Florida capital sentencing scheme The scheme mandates separate sentencing proceeding to determine whether the defendant should be sentenced to death or life imprisonment. The sentence prescribed by Jury is only advisory. The relevant Statute reads ‘Notwithstanding the recommendation of a majority of the jury, the … [Read more...] about SCOTUS holds Florida Capital Sentencing scheme Unconstitutional [Read Judgment]